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Thor: The Dark World — What Did You Think?
On Friday, Marvel released its latest superhero blockbuster, Thor: The Dark World. Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, and Tom Hiddleston reprise their roles as Thor, Dr. Jane Foster, and Loki. Christopher Eccleston, best known for his role as the Ninth Doctor on BBC's Doctor Who, portrays Thor's nemesis in The Dark World: Malekith, ruler of the Dark Elves of Svartalfheim. Despite a strong opening weekend at the box office, critical reception has been lackluster. The movie averaged 66/100 on Rotten Tomatoes and 54/100 on Metacritic, but user reviews rated it higher, at 86/100 and 8/10 respectively. io9's review calls the plot "completely forgettable," but also said, "at a time when superhero films are gravitating towards Christopher Nolan-style darkness, it's really nice to see a movie go swinging into adventure with a song in its heart." Comic Book Resources also commented that the movie was a lot of fun, but added, "the film doesn't quite reach its true potential due to a villain who never truly feels like much more than an amorphous bad guy." Those of you who went to see it over the weekend: what did you think?
And the product placing could have been better as well.
You know what this movie needed? A progressive rock track. Songs from Yes, Rush... would have been awesome.
am i the only one ? never had a movie do that to me before.
It is what it is. Not the best Marvel movie but I didn't mind the admission price. One thing though....why is it the heroes always run into the one, only and correct cave on an entire planet? Thor and Jane avoid a storm and run into the one place with a time/space wormhole. Almost as bad as Kirk getting chased into the only cave on a ice planet that had Spock sitting in it. ( First ST/reboot movie ).
I thought I had disabled the slashdot advertisements a while back.
I for one welcome or new Asgardian overlords?
I haven't been to the movies theater in four years and just went this past weekend... to see Ender's Game.
Some people die at 25 and aren't buried until 75. -Benjamin Franklin
Except for Kat Dennings. I can watch her all day long.
Proverbs 21:19
Things went fast, caught fire, and exploded, over and over again. My basic needs were well met by this film. I plan to see it again.
Craig Milo Rogers
On the piratebay.
You never even catch a glimpse of Kat Dennings' assets. She's wearing heavy clothing the whole movie.
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
If it did not have the love sequences between Portman and Hemsworth it would have been *cough* worth it.
Leave it to Hollywood to make dialogue awkward and cringe-worthy. It got good once the action started rolling, but there really was no chemistry between the two lovers, and Kat Dennings' character felt so forced I felt uncomfortable in the chair.
Special mention to Skarsgård for doing perhaps the best scene in the movie in which he uses shoes to explain the coming convergence. It looks like he had a lot of fun doing that and he seemed quite relaxed and confident in his role, unlike Portman who seemed off the whole time.
I thought it was really good. The story wasn't flabby and lazy like most sequels, it was well-written, and had a sense of humour about itself.
I like the beginning of the movie as they fleshed out the dark elves. As soon as Thor (or any title hero) shows up I get bored with the lack of suspense, the plot bending over backward to get to the hero's victory, and the obvious insider jokes. I'll have some more Walking Dead thank you.
I just wished it concentrated more on the actual hero, instead of Thor and his love interest.
After all, all the girl did was free the aether, and most of what Thor did was deliver the girl/aether to the bad guy.
The real hero was Eric No Pants, who created the weapon that killed the bad guys.
Oh, Thor had to actually use it, but honestly, that's the least he could do after he and his girlfriend gave the Aether to the bad guy in the first place.
The movie was exciting, but I really wish they had told us more of the real story - how Naked Eric saved the universe!
excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
Good adventure action movie to eat popcorn to...enjoy the characters and thought the movie was a keeper. Def an 8/10.
I liked Thor 2 better.
I found the character development with Thor 2 to be much more believable than that in Thor. In the first, he couldn't pick up his hammer and suddenly was humbled outright. In this, he slowly comes to realize that he cannot put his feelings for Earth (and Jane) aside and act as a ruler would, and must instead act as a guardian/soldier.
Perception is the thin dividing line between reality and fiction.
That's... Brilliant!
(note: If you don't know Doctor Who, first... why are you here? second... you won't get this joke)
#fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
It's a comic action flick that will earn a crapload of money for the investors. Great special effects, great final boss battle, great job putting Asgard on film, though the other realms were disappointing. I enjoyed it, but don't expect anything original. These movies are basically cookie cutter by now. Hell, they even used the comedic "so glad to see you...SLAP!" gag 2X.
Women will appreciate the lead. He goes shirtless and the women in the audience practically soiled their seats.
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
(Which is quite over rated)
I would give them both about a 6/10.
Second one has a very slow start but ultimately, not too bad. I saw it in 2D and honestly I expected much worse, it's not a shabby movie to be honest - not entirely deep or great but not bad.
I'm not into the whole comic book thing, so I look at them as regular action movies, I don't care if they "fucked up" a character or any of that. I think the best comic book movie in the last few years was probably Iron Man 1, it's just done fairly well - good story, decent effects, it's not bad.
They confuse me. On one hand (or both), I really love looking at them. On the other, I have to imagine they are quite a burden. Men are burdened but not quite like that and it's usually quite manageable. I like things the way they are -- I'm not complaining. But they do confuse me a bit.
I don't know if it was the theater or what, but the soundtrack seemed to do nothing to change the mood of the movie. There just seemed to be a lack of emotional polish to the production. I really liked the battle of Asgard, however. It felt very sci-fi, and that was actually very refreshing.
Subject. While it does clock in at two hours, it does seem to come and go a bit too quickly. Most importantly is the "rivalry" between Jane Foster and Sif being hinted at (twice), but never going anywhere. At times, Loki stole the show in terms of just being there and while he's a joy to watch, I think he's going to be a bit too overplayed.
Still, movie is balls to the wall hilarious at times, (*SPOILER*) especially when we see Loki as Captain America. Overall I think the first Thor was better but this one was certainly pretty awesome.
For those who seek perfection there can be no rest on this side of the grave.
Overall I liked the movie, but I thought some of the humor was forced at times. Or badly timed. And I would have liked to see more character development on the Jane Foster character. Mostly she is reactive. Tom Hiddleston carried the movie.
The final scene with the collector was miserable and should have been cut from the movie completely.
If you don't know her divine profile, look her up.
Although, that might mess with the type of rating they are aiming for.
The phone rings when they're outside seeking shelter. They can even keep the existing dialogue, but you get two or three quick shots of them triangulating based on signal bars. Maybe even show Thor isn't a total doofus and has more than three brain cells, by having him notice that they lose signal when they are aren't in line with that cave up on a ridge.
PHEM - party like it's 1997-2003!
There's a scene at the end where everyone blinks into existence, and then Mjolnir zooms by and Dennings chirps out "Mjolnir!" like she was talking to Scooby Doo or some other cartoon mascot. Low point of the film. I wish they had explained the change in Mjolnir's behavior, too. In Avengers, it blasts through multiple levels of helicarrier to get into Thor's hand just in time for him to knock the shit out of the Hulk. Here it's going around corners and shit, fast enough to be effective, slow enough so Dennings can make it into a cartoon mascot.
I liked /. more before it became predominantly slashvertisements and marketing focus groups.
What did I think of the movie? I thought they should rastify Thor by 10% or so.
I had read a very negative review before seeing it, so had very low expectations, and ended up being pleasantly surprised. I thought The Avengers was better made, but Thor (the film) didn't suck. There was some clever dialog, a reasonably coherent plot, good characterization of Loki, and Thor (the character) ended up being not quite so one-dimensional as he was in the first film. Tom Hiddleston stole the show by far, but Rene Russo as Frigga was surprisingly fun to watch for the few moments she was on the screen.
I thought the last action sequence was muddy and could probably have been re-edited to make it more coherent. I thought Thor's final speech showed more character development in a few minutes than the character had shown in three films, but that was probably by design. I mean, in the comics, Thor isn't exactly a complicated guy.
It's not my favorite film, but I'll probably see it again when it comes out on video.
There is a mid-credit scene and an after-credit scene. The mid-credit scene is in a word, bizarre. Comics geeks know The Collector, and understand that this leads up to The Infinity Gauntlet, which must be a plot point in a future film, but the scene was, I dunno, just really weird. I've read that it was done by a different director.
The after credit scene follows a trend I'm not sure I like -- that of changing the ending in a scene after the credits. I first noticed this in The Grey. If it becomes too prevalent it'll be more motivation to wait until the video, so I can fast forward through the credits to see the real end of the film.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
A movie can only be as great as its source material. It can almost never be greater than the sum of its parts.
Here, the one lacking element was the screenplay, and it's a shame. The acting was superb and the direction took the script as far as it could go.
There were too many Asgardian minor characters. Sif, Hogun, Fandral, Volstagg, Tyr, etc. None has enough to do. It feels like there was more to the Sif-Jane-Thor triangle that was left on the cutting-room floor, which is a shame. It would have been better to drop any nods to the Warriors Three.
Another problem was the ridiculous hand-waving that got the Aether into Jane. The Portal-like... - well, portals were cool but there had to be a better way to release the Aether. Maybe there was a better way to drive the plot and forget the Aether completely.
Speaking of handwaving, isn't it a bit ridiculous that Heimdall didn't see the dark-elf attack coming? Isn't that his job?
It's a shame, because the small touches were all there. It was funny, adventurous, and unpredictable.
"Even for Slashdot, that was a very obscure reference!" - Anonymous Coward
The good: Visually impressive. The sound was excellent. 3D was tastefully done and not gimmicky. Special effects didn't seem to overreach and I wasn't sitting there irritated by a lens flare overload. Good cameo for Stan Lee. The extra scene at the end of the credits (like in every Marvel movie) left some interesting loose ends.
The bad: It seems like they cut out some minor parts of the plot and various explanations/reveals for things so they could fit more action into the time allotted. At multiple points during the movie, I thought to myself, "What is this and why didn't they introduce it?" Maybe it's a movie for people more familiar with Thor's comic book history.
I bet they will put some of the things I wanted in an extended director's cut later. So I'll probably watch for that in the stores in a few months.
Summary: It was a pretty interesting fantasy/action movie, and is very appealing to the senses. Don't leave until ALL the credits are over. The fact that I *wanted* additional exposition is good. I am just a little bit dissatisfied. Worth it for a matinee showing at least.
You are not from around here, are you?
A movie review is actually a refreshing change of pace and what could be more nerdy than a comic book based movie? Besides, all the major new papers have movie reviews.....
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
he must be referring to her eyes.
It's from Hollywood so inevitably just another in the unbroken stream of Sci-Fi/Fantasy movies where CGI is used to wallpaper over all the average acting and complete lack of any real story.
If I'm not mistaken, this one was stock plot #4 with predictable ending #2b.
It's on Slashdot right? That means it's news for nerds.
What's more nerdy than a comic book based movie? Check: Nerdy
How it matters? You got me there.
But we've had lots of stuff that didn't matter posted here...
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
Mere mention of it here reminds me how much I miss the byline that Slashdot used to carry:
"News for Nerds, Stuff that Matters"
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
>> Men are burdened but not quite like that
Speak for yourself.
When I saw it, I brought a can of hot grits and some tight underwear.
Oh were we supposed to think then? Now they tell me.
A total waste of her talents, both of them.
Once upon a time, when a superhero movie with a budget and talent behind it came along once every few years, they were pretty exciting and entertaining. But with Marvel squeezing out films as quickly as they can turn the crank, plus Warner getting one out now and then, and fantasy/sci-fi films (e.g. Middle Earth, Transformers) being made from the same big-budget CGI-heavy dimly-lit mold, there's getting to be very little special about any of them.
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
Did anyone else notice that they cribbed a scene wholesale from the SWTOR "Decieved" trailer? That bit where the troop ship crashed directly in through the building was the Bioware trailer almost shot for shot and angle for angle. When the ship's doors opened, I half expected a bunch of light-sabers to light up.
Hence another reason why it's bad for Disney to take over the Marvel universe.
Get ready for the dumb-ing down and cleansing effects to attract the G/PG audiences of what was a complex and mature universe of characters.
And that's all it needed to be. My only complaint with the film was the setting. As the saying goes about westerns, the setting is a central character. I wanted more sweeping shots of Kirby inspired Asgard. A lot more. What we did get was great, but the film makers should have, uh, hammered on the scale of Asgard more than they did. I do have a complaint about the theatre I saw it in. They had 22 minutes of ads (only two movie trailers) before the movie. I'll never go there again.
There was always an implied "or".
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Most of the visuals were great ; but I could not take the Dark Elf-a-tubbies seriously. "Eh oh! Time for Midgard bye-bye!"
>;k
Wow! I just noticed it's gone! When was it removed???
Slashdot Valentines Beta Massacre: iT WORKED! The boycotts killed Beta!!
Nope! Sorry!
is **so** 1999!!
Slashdot Valentines Beta Massacre: iT WORKED! The boycotts killed Beta!!
The movie and the one before are complete garbage, and if your generation gets raised on this garbage, and likes it, I can only imagine what dreck your children will watch.
Until generations later they're staring at a picture of an naked butt on the screen for 2 hours and laughing.
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
Doesn't it depend on how many parsecs thick the concrete is?
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Not being able to really see them is the only reason I didn't recognize her being from that Two Retarded Chicks show.
EFFIN AWESOME. From a reader and collector of the 60's-era books.
Computing and Programming Since 1975 The Best Kept Secret in Technical Support Master of the Bare Metal Clean Install
He has to be the most talentless tosser on the planet, can't ACT to save his life. All he ever does is play himself, which isn't a very interesting character to begin with. He is DREADFUL. How did an idiot like Eccleston land a part in a big movie like this? Again I ask, WTF?
Don't believe me? Watch 'The Second Coming', which 'stars' Eccleston as the 'second coming' of Jesus - quite the worst television programme ever created, in the entire history of the world...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAK46ykq6-k
No.
I find it interesting how the Asgardians are incredibly tough with blunt force trauma, being able to be thrown through stone walls, tossed great distances, even getting a punch or beatdown by the Hulk with minimal damage.
However, apply anything pointy or sharp to an Asgardian, and the knife/sword/spear sinks right in and massive injury or death happens pretty easily.
Since the site can't handle coverage of all major genres, it seems more reasonable that we all do exactly what those non-entertainment-stereotypical nerds do -- get news directly related to tech (including movie technology, of course) here on Slashdot, get our entertainment boost on another decent site.
That's one option. Another is that those of us who've been here a long time can keep our home, and new people who don't like the site for which they've signed up can discuss the movies they like better on a site that better matches their interests.
Space game using normal deck of cards: http://BattleCards.org
It's still the HTML title if you view the page source.
Pain is merely failure leaving the body
Mere mention of it here reminds me how much I miss the byline that Slashdot used to carry:
"News for Nerds, Stuff that Matters"
It has Natalie Portman. Thus, it fulfills both.
This reminds me of a joke I once heard an actress tell:
Q:How do you tell the dumbest actress on a movie set?
A:She's the one who's sleeping with the writer.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
at the risk of exposing myself as a very happy person, I haven't laughed that hard at a movie theater in ages. among other things, one or two of the cameos were very funny. some of the apparent plot inconsistencies are immaterial to someone who has read the comics for years.
I don't know what everyone was expecting, but I'm just pleased that the marvel production arm is still creating movies that take their premise seriously without being overly serious. something they have done with some consistency since the first Iron Man.
as for the plot being relatively short, it is a chapter in a much longer story. I'm just pleased that they didn't give it the peter jackson treatment... I'm sure he could have gotten a decent mini-series out of what was in this movie. considering all the complaining around here about him squeezing the hobbit for 3 overly long movies I'm surprised that this is one of the big complaints here. I thought thor managed to get a goodly amount of story, humor, and pathos into a package that never left me looking for my watch.
if you like marvel produced movies, you'll probably really enjoy this one. if you don't, you probably won't the relative measure of the reviews in this case leads me to believe (with some justification) that there's a lot of people who don't like that sort of movie, but there are plenty that do.
-- it's ridiculous how many people misspell ridiculous... (damn, damn, damn...)
she's smart.
-- it's ridiculous how many people misspell ridiculous... (damn, damn, damn...)
You never even catch a glimpse of Kat Dennings' assets. She's wearing heavy clothing the whole movie.
Ahem. That's because you are not Clark Kent.
Just wondering. Thor has always been a love story between Thor and Loki. Loki just wanting attention from Thor so he acts out. They aren't even related so it's not even that risqué. zzzzzzz
I'd give it a 7/10. Not as good as some of the Avengers-based hero movies, and in many ways felt like just part of a set-up for the next Avengers movie. It will be interesting some day to watch them all in order to see how well the pieces fit. My wife was a bit underwhelmed though, said it just seemed more of the same.
Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
It's entertaining. Didn't need more. Trying to find meaning or depth in this movie is akin to finding a first rate tenderloin at McDonalds. If you're going to McDonalds, you know what you're getting, and you're going because you want to. If you want the tenderloin; look elsewhere.
I liked it a lot. It was a lot of fun, and was much better than the first Thor film.
As for Nolan being this high-set bar that everyone is supposed to overcome; I counter that the first Batman movie was better than all the sequels. Ledger wasn't that impressive, to me, and wouldn't have won squat for awards if he hadn't died.
...and I rarely go to movies. But I thoroughly enjoyed Gravity. It's a heck of a ride,and it very much feels like you're in space. Worth seeing in the theater for the immersion, even if you don't like 3D, which I don't.
Never let a lack of data get in the way of a good rant.
The Produce, Director, Writers, Screen Writers and Actors ... are only ... human.
And in all cases ... only D .. students.
That is what you get. For some ... passible. For most ... not passable.
A sad tail told badly.
As a Dane, I can't help wonder who the hell this Thor guy is? The thundergod of Norse mythology is a stocky, hairy, red-headed, foul-tempered and slightly stupid sort of anti-hero, not a tall, waxed body builder with lanky, blond hair. And his hammer is famous for being unfinished, hence the handle is VERY SHORT; IOW it's not a bloody sledge-hammer.
I've always felt super-hero movies should be pretty simple, with obvious good guys to root for, a plot that makes sense, a macguffin that matters (destroying the universe, for example) , and some decent action scenes. Thor gave us all of these.
There's nothing wrong with a film being just about the spectacle, and there's plenty of spectacle here.
Or if this turns into advertisements for nerds, I will walk someplace else. Movies from Holywood suck, sequels worse and I bet if this needs so much publicity, it is very bad.
Solid 8/10
Yes, but what about the movie?
But I grew up a comic geek. Thor was never my favorite, but he was always 'on the list' of comics I bought. I grew up daydreaming that some day they could take the pages of the comix I loved and turned them 'real'... and they have. For the most part I've enjoyed every single one of the Marvel movies. Some of them I had to grin through a rictus of pain at how bad they were, but I would gladly sit and watch all of them all over again (and have). I enjoyed the little tidbits they gave about the Asgardians in general. I could never get past that in the comix really, what made them special, or better than human? They showed off the tech a bit, and fleshed out the rest a tad. Not a full explanation mind you, but sort of like letting you peek behind the curtain enough to know something was going back there that made it make sense.
I thought they did justice to Malekith and the Dark Elf saga. I liked what they did with Loki, and Frigga and Jane. I REALLY liked Frigga in this, and in the comic she's almost and afterthought from my recollection. They definitely did the 'I am woman hear me roar' thing in this and I didn't mind. They didn't steal the show, they had an equal part in it.
I would give it an 8/10 myself. The plot could have been a bit better, the dialog was a bit forced every now and then. I enjoyed it. I will see it again. I would not say that about the WORST Marvel movie to date, Iron Man 3, or the Tony Stark cry-for-me waste of money they called IM3. Gah.
If I sound stupid, it's not me talking....
Where is the spoiler alert? Thanks, now you ruined it for me.
Yeah there was that one coinkydink, but the visual effects were spectacular, and I can't remember enjoying a superhero movie to the degree I enjoyed this one. Maybe it's because my teenage daughters all have a crush on Thor, but it was a decent fun movie, well made, and worth the price of admission.
http://www.beanleafpress.com
"the film doesn't quite reach its true potential due to a villain who never truly feels like much more than an amorphous bad guy."
What, like Into Darkness? And frankly the first ST reboot, but at least that had newness and at least a semblance of coherence going for it.
Anyone going to a comic book movie, and expecting cinematic excellence is ALWAYS going to hate the movie. This is a movie with a comic book plot, and when seen in that light, it's darn good entertainment. If it's nominated for an Oscar, it won't be for story line, or acting. See it for the fun of it, because it has fun in spades.
The first movie was good, pretty much the classic Hero's Journey cast in the Thor universe so it was always going to be good
This latest was basically similar to following Thor going to the gym with more explosions
Apparently he alone of all the Asguardians can't be hurt beyond the occasional scratch, he already has one of if not the most powerful weapon in the known universe, there was no real point apart from a single fight scene where it looked like he could lose. During that fight Thor gets thrown into a mountain then a massive rock thrown into him and gets 2 small scratches on his face then he is repeatedly beaten into the rocky ground (in a direct copy of the scene from Avengers with the Hulk beating Loki) by a massive Dark Elve that had with ease killed lots of Asguardian's already for quite awhile and for some reason is no more hurt then the initial 2 scratches.
The dark elves were vaguely interesting, though when arriving for the final battle that they had been preparing for over thousands of years they decided to leave behind all of their weapons which they had brought along in every other fight in the movie. Hence when the minions went after random earthlings for some reason abandoning their leader to face Thor alone they could do nothing except fruitlessly chase them around for 10 minutes...
There seems to be no logical reason that Jane was brought to the Aether instead of any other inhabitant of the 9 realms. Worse is the entire reason the Dark Elves / Aether's plans fail is Thor is using Heimdall to routinely perve on Jane, had it picked anyone else in the universe the Asguardian's would have been clueless and the Elves / Aether's plan would have been successful.
The best bits of the movie were Loki in his cell using illusions to act as if he didn't care about his step mothers death and the final scene where Loki has taken control of Asguard.
Just seems like terrible writing to try to keep Jane relevant and in the movie as a love interest for Thor and a lack of ability to make any fight seem like it was in some way difficult.
The first end credit scene with the collector was breathtakingly terrible the collector was a soft voiced unconvincing character with a jarring pink humanoid assistant. The whole scene would have felt at home in a Dr Who episode but definitely is out of place for this movie.
It passes the Bechdel test.
You should be *thanking* me!
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!